Pheasant and quail are popular entrees at Brush Dale, as are wild duck and deer. Besides tasty wild game recipes, you'll find scrumptious ways to serve garden vegetables and delicious desserts. Lodge Recipes

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No matter where you are at Brush Dale, you are not far from water. Besides Brush Creek, which runs the entire length of the Farm from north to south, and the Wetlands Project, which includes eight small, terraced ponds, Brush Dale has eight (8) ponds. The ponds range in size from 1/4 to 1 acre. Some were naturally formed, but most were carefully planned and built.

At Brush Dale's entrance is Gazebo Pond, which boasts a beautiful cedar gazebo, complete with ceiling fans, and a sand beach. At the west end is a gorgeous Weeping Willow. In the warm, summer months, we swim and fish in the Pond. The kids especially have a great time on the floating trampoline and floating dock with diving board. The Pond is stocked with Striped Bass and Channel Catfish, a great, fighting sportfish. It is aerated year-round, continuously filled by its own well, and in the summer months the fish are fed to help them achieve maximum size. It is not unusual to catch a 20lb "Walter" in Gazebo Pond.

Close by and to the north of the Hawkeye Lodge is Loch Ness Pond, so named when an unsuspecting fisherman hooked a 40lb grass carp! Man-made Loch Ness is the Farm's largest pond and it is also stocked, well water-fed, and aerated.

The Field Pond is one of the oldest ponds on the Farm. It is surrounded by beautiful evergreens that the pheasant like to roost in at night. A deep pond, the Field Pond is also aerated, stocked, and well water-fed. On one fishing expedition, Dell and a friend caught so many large Channel Cat that they couldn't carry them. Dell ended up getting the tractor, and they loaded their 100+ pound catch into the bucket and drove them back to the Lodge.

Between Gazebo Pond and the Field Pond is a small, shallow pond, named Bullfrog Pond. Many years go, the Pond was stocked with Bullfrogs. They proliferated, and now, during hot summer nights, their croaking is often so loud it keeps you awake.

Near the Prairie's north fenceline is one of the Farm's original ponds, Judy's Pond. Twice each year, Judy's Pond is completely blanketed with migrating ducks. The Pond is densely shaded by trees and shrubs that surround the Pond on all sides.

Not far from Judy's Pond, near the intersection of the Prairie's north and west fencelines is the Northwest Pond. This is also one of the Farm's oldest ponds and a popular resting stop for migrating ducks.

The Farm's newest, large, man-made pond is the Wetland Duck Pond. Even though the Pond has not been holding water well, it is a favorite Spring breeding and nesting ground for mallard and wood ducks, herons, and a pair of Canadian Geese. The Pond is continuously filled by a springfed stream. Because the Pond was built in a timber-covered hillside ravine, it is heavily surrounded by trees on three sides.

Crayfish Pond is a shallow pond in the Farm's eastern-most hunting field that can be seen from Highway 62. It is an old Pond that is used primarily as a source of crayfish (a/k/a crawdads) for catching Channel Cat. It's other notable attributes are the apple trees that line its banks.